Sinter Klaus

[Note: this entry was written primarily for the amusement of my neighbors…hope they, and you, enjoy!]

When I moved to Namibia, I thought I would be learning about African cultures and celebrating national holidays. Yet somehow, on the night of December 6th, I found myself celebrating a Dutch holiday. Yes, I joyfully partook in my first Sinter klaus revels with my three Dutch neighbors – Jesse, Jorrit and Frouke (and baby Silke though she didn’t pay much attention to the merriment).

Sinter klaus is a Dutch holiday related to Christmas. From my understanding, the Dutch still celebrate Christmas but have additional festivities on December 6th. On this particular day, an elderly man named Sinterklaus travels from his home in Spain via a steamboat to Holland where he goes around with his ‘Black Petes’ and throws presents into people’s chimneys where they then land miraculously in children’s shoes.

The concept of the Black Pete is an interesting one. Supposedly, Sinter klaus’ helpers are black people called Petes (or more accurately, white Dutch people who paint themselves black…?). Apparently, there are numerous songs describing the Petes in less than friendly terms – my neighbors told me the songs were rather racist. I just assumed that these Petes were similar to our elves but I must be wrong about that because at the end of the evening, Jesse asked me if Santa had any “slaves to help him.” So whereas Santa’s elves merrily, free-willingly engage in their toy-making, Sinterklaus’ Black Petes are conscripted into servitude. Seriously? How does slavery embody the true meaning of Christmas?

For about a month prior to this special day, the children leave their shoes in front of the chimney with a list or cut-out pictures of the gifts they would like. In an effort not to be entirely selfish, the children also leave cookies for Sinterklaus and carrots for his horses
(apparently the Black Petes get nothing…ah, the life of a slave). The gifts are then purchased in Spain and transported back to Holland by Sinterklaus (the Spanish economy must be booming this time of year).

Then on the eve of December 5th, the gifts miraculously appear in the children’s shoes. Accompanying the gifts are poems written by the Black Petes (aka the parents) about the gift receiver. My neighbors and I exchanged gifts and poems this year. We had some good laughs over the poems we wrote about each other! I really liked what the poems add to the celebrations – it forces the poets to be creative in humorously writing about their friends and family members and it takes the evening beyond the all-consuming materialism that American Christmases seem to embody these days.

The Dutch also have a practice similar to our American one of giving coal to "bad" children. However, the Dutch version of this takes a rather frightful approach. Children who are "naughty" are thrown into the toy bag, kidnapped by Sinter Klaus and taken along to Spain. I didn't get clarification on what happens to them upon arrival in that foreign land though - I was still in shock over the horror of telling small children that if they misbehaved they would be kidnapped.

Overall, I don’t exactly approve of the holiday’s roots in slavery or desire to frighten the young but I do quite enjoy the poetry. Therefore, I will happily award Sinter klaus celebrations with two thumbs up!